I submit my framing and design to you for approval...

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm sorry I'm confused. People on this tread seem to be criticizing 2 things. #1 they are critical of the fact the coop is raised off the ground. 90% of all the coops I've looked at on the internet are raised. #2 They are critical of the fact that a grown human cannot stand up in the coop that is designed for 15" tall birds. Again 90% of the coops I see on the internet are less than 5 feet tall on the inside.

If I have to crawl around on my hands and knees every once and a while to retrieve an egg or sick bird then so be it.

As far as the raised coop, my birds are confined to a run only because of excess predators so that small space under the coop is a bonus for the ladies to hang out and get away from the hot sun.

These are just my opinions, please don't attack.

762 I love your plans keep building exactly as you have drawn in your plans I look forward to seeing the completed project.

That says more about the internet than the practicality of a raised coop design. and if you read how many birds thos raised coops were supposed to be suitable for, you'd have reason to pause before swallowing the rest of what they are dishing out.

Fact is, most of what you see on the internet, and to some extent, on the side of the road at those portable building places, is sheds built by shed builders based on what they think a chicken needs, and based on what people who have never owned chickens think is attractive. Even the "amish-style" coops have obvious flaws to those of us who have had chickens for a while. Those flaws (for modern man) weren't necessarily flaws then - we have access to hinges that make certain designs much more practical, while they would simply use a removable lid - and thus the modern "amish" coops with a hinge where the nesting box meets the wall, rather than on the face of the nesting box itself.

As well, many of the older coop designs were intended for a compoletely different style of management than that practiced by modern keepers. The Amish, the PA Dutch, and others using similar off the ground coops used them solely as a place birds could escape the weather - otherwise, they ranged. For many modern keepers, their birds must be contained at all times, and the deficiencies in the coop (particularly ventilation) become much more obvious. Same with nesting boxes the same height as the floor or the roosting bars - reveals an ignorance of chicken behaviors. Or with very attractive, aesthetically pleasing windows which direct drafts onto roosting birds and (less commonly) light into nesting boxes...

But hey, if what you see most on the internet is how you judge knowledge... There's some very creative "math" on Facebook masquerading as economics. Let us know how that works out for you.

/edit and for very small coops with access all around them, getting under a coop for cleaning etc is pretty easy with a rake or other long tool. As the coop grows in size, or sides get blocked off by the walls on enclosed runs, etc, that access tends to become increasing difficult to manage.

 

[mowin]

These are just my opinions, please don't attack.

Isn't that what you just did?

I'll never have a raised coop. I don't want to get on my hands and knees to retrieve a egg or injured bird. So I eliminate that possibly. I don't want to smash my head on a 2x4 rafter, or hunch over to retrieve eggs or clean the coop, so I eliminated those issues.

I build my coops for my convenience, and to make my life easier tending to the chickens.

 

[3KillerBs]

I'm sorry I'm confused. People on this tread seem to be criticizing 2 things. #1 they are critical of the fact the coop is raised off the ground. 90% of all the coops I've looked at on the internet are raised. #2 They are critical of the fact that a grown human cannot stand up in the coop that is designed for 15" tall birds. Again 90% of the coops I see on the internet are less than 5 feet tall on the inside.

If I have to crawl around on my hands and knees every once and a while to retrieve an egg or sick bird then so be it.

As far as the raised coop, my birds are confined to a run only because of excess predators so that small space under the coop is a bonus for the ladies to hang out and get away from the hot sun.

These are just my opinions, please don't attack.

762 I love your plans keep building exactly as you have drawn in your plans I look forward to seeing the completed project.

My Little Monitor Coop was raised specifically because I was fitting it into a tight suburban yard. I can't touch the back wall no matter how far I lean into the access door -- though my 6-foot son can.

It's former attached run was only 4 feet high to save on wire. We thought we were being clever making it possible for the run to come off and be dragged free for cleaning.That feature was completely impractical. We only tried once. Cleaning was a matter of hunchbacked torture for the rest of the life of that run. Retrieving an egg laid under the coop required running a bath, sending a small child in with a hoe to pull the egg out, then bathing said small child (now grown into said 6-foot son).

I'm 58 now and my big, Open Air coop was designed for me to be able to clean and tend it while standing upright because my arthritis doesn't like hunching and crawling. (Coop page in progress. It can be seen here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/ )

We try to pass on these lessons so that others can learn from our mistakes.

 

[Raptor Chicken]

I agree with the posters against raised coops for obvious reasons.

When I started on our coop build my wife wanted to be able to have a walk in set up. Being that I would inevitably end up being in it at some point I built it as such.

We're in the finishing stages but this is a good visual for where we're at.

I considered a raised coop during my design phase and am glad I went the route we did.

 

[Apollo89521]

That says more about the internet than the practicality of a raised coop design. and if you read how many birds thos raised coops were supposed to be suitable for, you'd have reason to pause before swallowing the rest of what they are dishing out.

Fact is, most of what you see on the internet, and to some extent, on the side of the road at those portable building places, is sheds built by shed builders based on what they think a chicken needs, and based on what people who have never owned chickens think is attractive. Even the "amish-style" coops have obvious flaws to those of us who have had chickens for a while. Those flaws (for modern man) weren't necessarily flaws then - we have access to hinges that make certain designs much more practical, while they would simply use a removable lid - and thus the modern "amish" coops with a hinge where the nesting box meets the wall, rather than on the face of the nesting box itself.

As well, many of the older coop designs were intended for a compoletely different style of management than that practiced by modern keepers. The Amish, the PA Dutch, and others using similar off the ground coops used them solely as a place birds could escape the weather - otherwise, they ranged. For many modern keepers, their birds must be contained at all times, and the deficiencies in the coop (particularly ventilation) become much more obvious. Same with nesting boxes the same height as the floor or the roosting bars - reveals an ignorance of chicken behaviors. Or with very attractive, aesthetically pleasing windows which direct drafts onto roosting birds and (less commonly) light into nesting boxes...

But hey, if what you see most on the internet is how you judge knowledge... There's some very creative "math" on Facebook masquerading as economics. Let us know how that works out for you.

/edit and for very small coops with access all around them, getting under a coop for cleaning etc is pretty easy with a rake or other long tool. As the coop grows in size, or sides get blocked off by the walls on enclosed runs, etc, that access tends to become increasing difficult to manage.

Isn't that what you just did?

I'll never have a raised coop. I don't want to get on my hands and knees to retrieve a egg or injured bird. So I eliminate that possibly. I don't want to smash my head on a 2x4 rafter, or hunch over to retrieve eggs or clean the coop, so I eliminated those issues.

I build my coops for my convenience, and to make my life easier tending to the chickens.

No I wasn't attacking I was confused. I now see that it's more about the chicken keepers convenience and maybe not what is good for the birds. I would love to see the inside of a walk in coop design to see how you set up the nest boxes & roost to see how the birds navigate that large area.
When you walk in are you walking in the bedding on the floor. Again I'm not attacking or criticizing I'm just curious how that works. I was under the impression the raised coop was helpful when cleaning and replacing the hemp/straw flooring in the coop by putting a wheel barrow under the ledge and pulling it out at waist level. When using a walk in type do you use a rake and a shovel?
Also, hitting your head on a 2x4 rafter, how low is the roof of the coop you are talking about?

 

[Apollo89521]

That says more about the internet than the practicality of a raised coop design. and if you read how many birds thos raised coops were supposed to be suitable for, you'd have reason to pause before swallowing the rest of what they are dishing out.

Fact is, most of what you see on the internet, and to some extent, on the side of the road at those portable building places, is sheds built by shed builders based on what they think a chicken needs, and based on what people who have never owned chickens think is attractive. Even the "amish-style" coops have obvious flaws to those of us who have had chickens for a while. Those flaws (for modern man) weren't necessarily flaws then - we have access to hinges that make certain designs much more practical, while they would simply use a removable lid - and thus the modern "amish" coops with a hinge where the nesting box meets the wall, rather than on the face of the nesting box itself.

As well, many of the older coop designs were intended for a compoletely different style of management than that practiced by modern keepers. The Amish, the PA Dutch, and others using similar off the ground coops used them solely as a place birds could escape the weather - otherwise, they ranged. For many modern keepers, their birds must be contained at all times, and the deficiencies in the coop (particularly ventilation) become much more obvious. Same with nesting boxes the same height as the floor or the roosting bars - reveals an ignorance of chicken behaviors. Or with very attractive, aesthetically pleasing windows which direct drafts onto roosting birds and (less commonly) light into nesting boxes...

But hey, if what you see most on the internet is how you judge knowledge... There's some very creative "math" on Facebook masquerading as economics. Let us know how that works out for you.

/edit and for very small coops with access all around them, getting under a coop for cleaning etc is pretty easy with a rake or other long tool. As the coop grows in size, or sides get blocked off by the walls on enclosed runs, etc, that access tends to become increasing difficult to manage.

I can see what you are saying. Thanks

 

[aart]

I now see that it's more about the chicken keepers convenience and maybe not what is good for the birds.

Being able to easily take care of the coop and the birds inside is good for the keeper and the birds.

My coop is both raised and walk in, but it was an existing shed.

 

[mowin]

No I wasn't attacking I was confused. I now see that it's more about the chicken keepers convenience and maybe not what is good for the birds. I would love to see the inside of a walk in coop design to see how you set up the nest boxes & roost to see how the birds navigate that large area.
When you walk in are you walking in the bedding on the floor. Again I'm not attacking or criticizing I'm just curious how that works. I was under the impression the raised coop was helpful when cleaning and replacing the hemp/straw flooring in the coop by putting a wheel barrow under the ledge and pulling it out at waist level. When using a walk in type do you use a rake and a shovel?
Also, hitting your head on a 2x4 rafter, how low is the roof of the coop you are talking about?

So, those of us with walkin coops and runs are not thinking about the good of our birds, but only about our convenience? Please explain to me how MORE room is bad for my chickens? I'll wait...

In the meantime.... Taller coop: easier to achieve proper ventilation without drafts. Ventilation well above the birds while on roost: I know... Can't be I'm thinking about my birds, can it?

More room for the gals to separate themselves from each other during inclement weather: yep, there I go again.. thinking about my birds.

More room for them to jump down or pitch off the roost without hitting a wall. Have ramps, but chickens will be chickens, and not always use them. So less chance of injury: Sorry. Thinking about my birds again...

About hitting my head on a 2x4 rafter, I don't hit my head on them because I have walk in coops. I'm 5'8. The walls of my coop are 6' on the low side, and 8' on the high side.
Wheelbarrow hight??.. you bought into the sales crap the internet is selling. It's called marketing. Remember, they can't box up a truly large coop and ship it to you easily, so they sell you the idea wheelbarrow hight is awesome. Sure, if you're coop is 4x4 or smaller. So big enough for 4 birds tops.

Cleaning is simple. I walk in, standing upright. Open the door to the run and sweep the shavings out of the coop into the run. No shovel, no wheelbarrow, and best of all, no backache or headache.

It kinda seems you got caught up in the internet and built what they were trying to sell you, and now you are trying to justify your decision by challenging those of us that didn't follow suit.

You build, or purchase, whatever you like. I truly hope it works well for you and your family for many years, and your birds are happy.

I'll continue to build with what is best for my chickens and myself, and continue to give advice as why I choose to build my coops the way I do.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My first coop was a walk in. Built it myself. Raised a bit more than wheelbarrow height off the ground. I still use it. Because I have ducks, they nest on the ground. Many (certainly not all) of my chickens roost and lay above them. because of the design, I can walk right into my raised coop. Its a "U" shaped floor formed of a 4x8 sheet, a 4x4 sheet, and another 4x8 sheet to the whole thing is 8x12 perimiter. Yesterday, I shoveled almost a cubic yard of spent bedding out of it, and replaced it with two cubic yards of leaf litter - cursing the length of the handle on the shovel the entire time.

Thankfully, I only have to do it once a year (the shovelling), and I can simply throw leaf litter with my hands, no need to shovel that in four times yearly.My second coop? Technically, its a goat shed, but I do have space for more than 40 birds to sleep there, and perhaps 20 do at the moment (my flock size is down). I can walk right in, walk right out. With or without the wheelbarrow. Ventilatiton is excellent. Lighting is good. Cleaning is spectacularly easy. And its just as protective against FL weather concerns as the other. Also, the goats have never busted a hole in that floor when terrified by the weather.

A good coop is a system. It works with the birds, it works with the weather, it works with the grounds, and it works with the keeper. Would I make changes to my second coop if I were to do it again? Of course I would. There were budgetary constraints and time constraints that influenced the design. The important thing is that you find a design that works for your birds first, and you also, over the long haul. "Most Everybody does it that way" is both untrue and often irrelevant. Or we as a nation (any democratic nation) would likely spend less tme rueing the reuslts of the latest election (any election). Your choice of candidates need not be limited to raised cooop designs...

 

[saysfaa]

.... I would love to see the inside of a walk in coop design to see how you set up the nest boxes & roost to see how the birds navigate that large area.
When you walk in are you walking in the bedding on the floor. Again I'm not attacking or criticizing I'm just curious how that works. I was under the impression the raised coop was helpful when cleaning and replacing the hemp/straw flooring in the coop by putting a wheel barrow under the ledge and pulling it out at waist level. When using a walk in type do you use a rake and a shovel?
Also, hitting your head on a 2x4 rafter, how low is the roof of the coop you are talking about?

Mine is 10' x 14' (about 3m x 4m), divided into a 10'x6' (3m x 1.8m) space in front and a 10' x 8' (3m x 2.5m) space in back. The walls are 7' (about 2m) high, it slopes up to a peak in the middle that I haven't measured but is about 15 or 18 inches (40 cm) higher than the walls.

The front is for storing chicken feed and supplies and gardening tools, and giving me a place out of the weather to enter without worrying about chickens escaping. And giving some flexibility if I wanted to raise some chicks or anything like that. The back is for the chickens.

My original idea was to not have to walk into the chicken space to feed, water, or gather eggs. Since I like walking in with them, I haven't bothered to finish that part. I would need to cut an access flap in the (garden fence) wire wall separating the front from the back and either get a different nest or cut a slat off of each of the crates I use for nests. Also, tweak the feeder or placement of the feeder so I could reach it better.

My husband doesn't like to walk on the bedding so when I'm gone, he puts an old feed bag down to step on.

Last year, I had something more than a foot (30 cm) of bedding on the floor. I've cleaned it out once, about a year and some after the chickens were in there. It didn't smell or look like it needed cleaning out; I just wanted to see how it did, to refill my compost bins, and to consider putting another coat of black jack on the floor to use it up because it is in my way. I've cleaned a LOT of barns out with a pitch fork and/or shovel regularly and after a winter of cattle, pigs, and horses. That is heavy and nasty once you open it up. This was nothing. The bedding was so light, it nearly wasn't there; it was (almost) literally dry, fluffy maple leaves and dust. Technically, it had dry grass clippings, pine shavings, paper shreds, and such, and sand and ashes from where they shook off after dust bathing, but it was still ridiculously light weight. I parked the wheel barrow in the front section and had lots of room to maneuver the shovel. I'm pretty old and decrepit and I still see no benefit to scraping the bedding directly into a wheelbarrow even if I could magically switch the coop to allow that for only when I'm cleaning it.

Your mileage may vary. But, if you haven't cleaned a chicken coop out before, you might consider a dry run, maybe block off a section of a raised deck with cardboard in the size you are planning for your coop. Then reach a shovel or rake or whatever over and around a wheelbarrow set in the width of door you are planning. It may work well for you; many people say they prefer it. Although, I haven't seen too many who say so who have also cleaned out a walk in coop.

Maybe I should add that probably one of the reasons mine was so non-messy and light weight is that I use a poop board, so half the poop is taken out daily. And the chickens are not crowded.

And you asked what I used. I used the biggest shovel I have. I had a couple of rakes and several pitch forks ready because I thought some of it might be matted. It wasn't; I didn't use them. I did kick bedding into the first few shovel fulls, until I could get the edge of the shovel down the wall to the floor for the first time. The shovel had a dull edge and would not take a bite of the bedding very easily until it could reach the floor.

I've never seen hemp bedding. Possibly there is some reason it would be easier to pull out instead of shovel out. I can't think of what that might be - maybe if it is very heavy? Anyway, straw would shovel out. Alfalfa hay or weedy hay might not but it would fork out easier with standing than trying to reach in, I think. We lose a lot of strength/leverage when we work with the weight at the end of our reach.

I can't add a picture from this device. I'll try to edit it to add them later.

The first picture is while I was building it. The last three were of spring cleaning... getting the dust out and trying to organize the pails and shelves... the bedding clean out was later.

And added the last two because I think they are pretty. They are both from last year.